Guest Shots

Big 12 Round Robin Continues with OU/Baylor

Tony Salinas: Big 12 Round Robin Continues with OU/Baylor

The excitement continues in the Big 12 this week with the Oklahoma/Baylor matchup...as we continue the six-game round robin involving the top four teams in the conference. I hope you won with me last week with my big play on Oklahoma State +5 over TCU. They won the game 49-29 in an absolute rout. Clearly, TCU was finally exposed as a pretender at least in terms of the national championship discussion. They should have lost at Texas Tech. They were badly outclassed by Oklahoma State. (And they were favored!)

Before I talk about this week...I want to say something about last week. There are some pundits out there suggesting that Oklahoma State was "lucky" that TCU turned the ball over four times. Or, that the victory was misleading because TCU outgained Okie State by more than 200 yards. Don't be ridiculous! Oklahoma State was scoring so quickly that TCU ended up running 110 plays while trying to catch up. Total yardage doesn't mean all that much when one team runs 110 plays and the other runs 53.

I'll put this as plainly as possible...

*Oklahoma State won yards-per-play 8.6 to 6.0*Oklahoma State gained those 8.6 yards per play with NO turnovers (!)*TCU was floundering all day, constantly making miscues

It was not a lucky win, or a misleading win. If turnovers had been even, the Cowboys still would have had that huge edge in yards-per-play on their home field in front of a great crowd. TCU -5 was a joke of a line, and we took advantage. Oklahoma State showed superiority in the "same site" comparison at Texas Tech...and drove the point home head-to-head.

Now, what about Oklahoma/Baylor this week? I hope you got in with the sharps at the opener of Oklahoma +5. That was also a very dumb line. Baylor's backup quarterback has been inconsistent so far...even with the Bears not having played any good teams yet. Oklahoma may have slept-walked through the Texas game. That won't happen in prime time in a big revenge game. OU +5 was a smart percentage take on the opener.

Now that the line is only Baylor -2.5, what should we do? Well, I could very well be playing this game BIG on Saturday...so I'm not going to say too much. I will tell you that the three is an important number in what could be a close match up. The percentages do swing meaningfully in a way that could talk some into Baylor.

Why TONY SALINAS might take Oklahoma: Baylor hasn't played anybody yet, and has no idea how to compete with the kind of athletes the Sooners are going to bring to the field. This isn't Kansas or Nobody State. Oklahoma, when focused, is a legitimate Big 12 championship contender...and conceivably a Final Four caliber team. This year's Baylor squad hasn't seen anything like it. And, recent Baylor squads have had to win high scoring shootouts vs. this kind of opponent because their defense is so bad. If you see that I've released Oklahoma this weekend...you can assume I'm thinking it might be a replay of Okie State/TCU in terms of the Texas team with the soft defense being exposed when the Oklahoma team with a chip on its shoulder brings everything.

Why TONY SALINAS might take Baylor: Oklahoma's head coach Bob Stoops is sarcastically nicknamed "Big Game Bob" because the Sooners have such a consistent history of underachieving in big games. THIS IS A BIG GAME! Can Stoops go into Waco and not blow it? That's a real question...this is a guy who couldn't beat Texas in Dallas a few weeks ago. Just look over the results and stats of all the big games OU has been a part of the last five years...and it will at least give you something to think about.

Frankly, BOTH teams could be pretenders in terms of what it takes to win a championship. We talked about that last week. Oklahoma State passed a test that TCU badly flunked. Neither OU nor Baylor is assured of being a juggernaut....regardless of what the polls and computer ratings say.

The rest of the Big 12 round robin...

Saturday November 21TCU at OklahomaBaylor at Oklahoma State

Friday November 27Baylor at TCU

Saturday November 28Oklahoma at Oklahoma State

Maybe that Baylor/TCU game won't mean much if the Oklahoma teams keep taking care of business. Or, maybe a few more surprises are in store for fans of football in this part of the country.

Back with you next week to either talk about that huge Big 12 doubleheader or another big development in college football. Keep reading online and joining the fun on weekends. You'll always GET THE BEST OF IT WITH TONY SALINAS!

Information contained within this website is for news and entertainment purposes only.
Use of this information in violation of State, Federal, or Local laws is strictly prohibited.
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Game Data, Odds, News provided by

Get the best NBA Playoff picks and top selections from Major League Baseball from the industry’s top sports handicapping team... Jim Hurley’s Network. NFL and College Football or basketball picks will keep you winning throughout the rest of the sports year. Horse Racing selections are available year round providing the best in horse racing picks from every major race track and for major racing event from the Derby Preps & Kentucky Derby and the rest of the Triple Crown to the Breeders’ Cup and the Sunshine Millions. Get NFL, NBA, College Football, College Basketball, Major League Baseball and Horse Racing picks from the teams that’s been picking winners for over 28 years... Jim Hurley’s Network.